Nice Washington Post Column on Rickard's Debut

[MemorialStadKid]

I just got in and am watching the game via the MLB app.

THANK GOD it's OPENING DAY!!!

Looks like we might have a new star on the team to add to this amazing roster.

Great to see the guys again and great to be alive for another season on the OH!

Let's win a World Series in 2016. :2yay-thumb:

MSK

[Ruzious]

I just got in and am watching the game via the MLB app.

THANK GOD it's OPENING DAY!!!

Looks like we might have a new star on the team to add to this amazing roster.

Great to see the guys again and great to be alive for another season on the OH!

Let's win a World Series in 2016. :2yay-thumb:

MSK

I'm surprised when he makes an out?

Too soon?

[MagicBird]

I just got in and am watching the game via the MLB app.

THANK GOD it's OPENING DAY!!!

Looks like we might have a new star on the team to add to this amazing roster.

Great to see the guys again and great to be alive for another season on the OH!

Let's win a World Series in 2016. :2yay-thumb:

MSK

I'm surprised when he makes an out?

Too soon?

You guys have his jersey on order yet?

[WEAVERMAN]

I just got in and am watching the game via the MLB app.

THANK GOD it's OPENING DAY!!!

Looks like we might have a new star on the team to add to this amazing roster.

Great to see the guys again and great to be alive for another season on the OH!

Let's win a World Series in 2016. :2yay-thumb:

MSK

I agree MSK, let's get it going early and often.

[WEAVERMAN]

I just got in and am watching the game via the MLB app.

THANK GOD it's OPENING DAY!!!

Looks like we might have a new star on the team to add to this amazing roster.

Great to see the guys again and great to be alive for another season on the OH!

Let's win a World Series in 2016. :2yay-thumb:

MSK

I agree MSK, let's get it going early and often.

[MemorialStadKid]

Tillman really impressed me in a way that he hasn't ever before.

I am very worried about the SP rotation, but I'm hoping that one of two things will occur:

1) Our homegrown guys FINALLY step up.

2) Duquette somehow finds a quality SP hidden among the various rosters out there.

Another guy who was good was Trumbo. Very nice approach to the plate. Seems like he just wanted to get ON BASE. I like this new way of thinking in terms of the batters. They didn't feel like wild swingers this time out.

Of course, it's just one game, but there's a lot of good stuff here in 2016.

MSK

[Frobby]

This is from Barry Svrluga, who is an excellent baseball writer for the Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/on-baseball-orioles-rookie-joey-rickards-mlb-debut-embodies-the-spirit-of-opening-day/2016/04/04/89c84646-fa08-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb_story.html

Understand that this is all fleeting, and that what happened Monday has little bearing on what happens Wednesday, when the Baltimore Orioles play next, much less as the summer wears on and Opening Day slips into the past, more minor blip than main event. There will be a time, perhaps soon, when Joey Rickard will, in fact, be able to contain his smile. Because this is baseball, there will be a time when he won't be able to muster one.

But for now, with the season brand new, take a couple of tiny little moments from a Monday at Camden Yards, because they can only happen once in a career. The factors that will impact the Orioles' season more directly -- a lineup that banged out 10 hits, right-hander Chris Tillman looking impressive in a rain-shortened start, Matt Wieters's return to health and his walk-off single -- will be parsed time and again over 161 more games.

For now, take away this: Joey Rickard is a big leaguer.

"I don't know what that really feels like," Rickard said.

Some advice: Let it wash over you, because it certainly doesn't always feel like this, like Monday, when he played in his first major league game, when he singled in his first at-bat then doubled in his second and goodness gracious maybe someone will hit 1.000 for a career. He is listed at 6 feet 1 but couldn't possibly be that tall. It says 185 pounds on the roster, but that must be holding a bat loaded up with three donuts. He was snapped up in the Rule 5 draft by the Orioles because the Tampa Bay Rays didn't have room for him.

This an Opening Day story, because running through a gate in the center field fence down an orange carpet for introductions, listening to the anthem belted out to 45,000-plus, knowing your family sat in the stands, celebrating Wieters's hit on the field with major league millionaires after a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins -- when and how, exactly, can that be recreated? On Monday, Bryce Harper hit his first homer of the season and could be nonchalant about it, because there are more to come. Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw won games, and their seasons are now rolling. Normal course of business. They know what lies ahead.

This? Rickard began last year with Montgomery of the Class AA Southern League. "What are they?" his manager, Buck Showalter, wondered. "The Biscuits?" Indeed, and when the logo on your cap includes a pad of melting butter, there's no mistaking: You're not in the majors. Even at 24, playing with prospects, considering yourself one, the majors -- and a day like Monday -- can seem a long way off.

"You always picture it, in a way," Rickard said. "But you never really know the feelings and the emotions that come along with it. Just looking up and seeing the whole crowd and the fans and the stadium just roaring, it was definitely something special and something that I'll never forget."

There's more, and it's worth a read.

[wildcard]

Nice article. Feel good type. Thanks for posting it.

[Moose Milligan]

Rickard has all the makings of a real life feel good story.

I don't know what to expect for him for a full year. I don't believe he should be discounted due to his age. I know, I know, he was always older for his minor league stops, but can it. I don't want to hear it. Dude went to college, was drafted when he was 21 and sent to A- ball which was appropriate. Had a rough 2014, IIRC it was injury plagued. Most athletes along the line have a setback or two, so what? He definitely showed what he was made of by bouncing back and progressing through the Rays system quickly last year.

Here's a guy who's done everything he's been asked to do and has handled everything thrown his way. I'm optimistic that he can be productive for us through the whole season and eventually make his way up to the leadoff spot. He has a good eye and has had a nice separation between batting average and OBP at each stop throughout his career. Here's hoping he can find a bit of a power stroke and become a threat for us.

[Danielos38]

Svurluga is the best baseball columnist out there, IMO. Wish he wrote about the O's instead of the Nats on a regular basis.

[Sessh]

Rickard has all the makings of a real life feel good story.

I don't know what to expect for him for a full year. I don't believe he should be discounted due to his age. I know, I know, he was always older for his minor league stops, but can it. I don't want to hear it. Dude went to college, was drafted when he was 21 and sent to A- ball which was appropriate. Had a rough 2014, IIRC it was injury plagued. Most athletes along the line have a setback or two, so what? He definitely showed what he was made of by bouncing back and progressing through the Rays system quickly last year.

Here's a guy who's done everything he's been asked to do and has handled everything thrown his way. I'm optimistic that he can be productive for us through the whole season and eventually make his way up to the leadoff spot. He has a good eye and has had a nice separation between batting average and OBP at each stop throughout his career. Here's hoping he can find a bit of a power stroke and become a threat for us.

I love what Rickard is doing. So many people dismissed him because he was a rule 5 pick not only some on here, but all over the internet. He was downplayed for not having home run power as well despite the other tools

he possessed. It's awesome when the underdog threatens to prove everyone wrong. There's still plenty of time for things to go wrong and the Twins' pitchers didn't look all that good aside from Pressly and May, but he

is patient and takes pitches to gain as much information as he can about the pitcher in every single AB he takes. That kind of stuff works at any level of baseball and he's got a quick bat and gets on base. I'm pulling for

him. The only guy on the team I'm pulling for more than Rickard is Kim.

I wouldn't expect a power stroke. The guy knows what he is and what he does best and power isn't one of them. He'll be fine without the power so long as he continues doing all the other things.

[Moose Milligan]

I love what Rickard is doing. So many people dismissed him because he was a rule 5 pick not only some on here, but all over the internet. He was downplayed for not having home run power as well despite the other tools

he possessed. It's awesome when the underdog threatens to prove everyone wrong. There's still plenty of time for things to go wrong and the Twins' pitchers didn't look all that good aside from Pressly and May, but he

is patient and takes pitches to gain as much information as he can about the pitcher in every single AB he takes. That kind of stuff works at any level of baseball and he's got a quick bat and gets on base. I'm pulling for

him. The only guy on the team I'm pulling for more than Rickard is Kim.

I wouldn't expect a power stroke. The guy knows what he is and what he does best and power isn't one of them. He'll be fine without the power so long as he continues doing all the other things.

Agreed on all points, except for rooting for Kim. I mean, I'm rooting for him because he's an Oriole but it really ends there.

In regards to power, it doesn't have to be in the form of homers. Hard hit balls to the gaps and down the line would do just fine.

[Rich Mac]

In regards to power, it doesn't have to be in the form of homers. Hard hit balls to the gaps and down the line would do just fine.

We are the perfect fit for him. This lineup needs more power like Imelda Marcos needs more shoes.

[Sessh]

Agreed on all points, except for rooting for Kim. I mean, I'm rooting for him because he's an Oriole but it really ends there.

In regards to power, it doesn't have to be in the form of homers. Hard hit balls to the gaps and down the line would do just fine.

Fair enough. I support tapping into the asian markets in general, so I want him to succeed. I'd like to see him prove everyone wrong and for this whole situation to have a good ending for both Kim's and the Orioles' sake.

2012: 47g, 11 2B, 2 HR

2013: 173g, 39 2B, 6 3B, 12 HR (A ball and Australia combined)

2014: nagging injury year

2015: 167g, 41 2B, 9 3B, 8 HR (minors and winter ball combined)

I think he'll do alright with the doubles and will get some triples, too.

[Orioles4Life21]

Who's gonna play Joey in the movie they will make about him?